The Strangers On The Trains ( Part 16)

James Conroy woke up fully clothed on his bed. There seemed to be a full brass band inside his head playing all the instruments all at once as loudly as they could. He stood up but had to put his hand on the wall to steady himself. He wasn’t sure his legs would carry him to the bathroom where he desperately needed to relieve himself from every orifice!

He gingerly walked along the upstairs landing. A smell hit his nostrils. A big fat greasy smell. Then he heard a familiar voice.

“About time you got up James. I’m cooking down here. Eggs, bacon, beans and I found some frozen chips to go with it all. Hurry up.”

James didn’t hear the last words of Tony’s sentence. He was too busy running in the direction of the bathroom.

In the kitchen Fat Tony was having the time of his life. Six eggs were in a frying pan cooking nicely. Ten rashers of bacon were under the grill. A pan full of baked beans was on the hob next to the eggs and the chips were in the oven. By the time James came down the stairs and walked into his kitchen, Tony had finished his breakfast and James plate was ready and waiting.

“Come on old son, your breakfast is getting cold. Best thing for a hangover is a proper fry up. Get it down you and you’ll feel much better. “

James ignored him.

“Coffee, just coffee.”

Tony laughed. A big full belly laugh.

“You are such a lightweight James.”

He poured James a coffee and sat opposite him at the table.

“So, what do you remember about last night?”

James took a few sips of his lukewarm coffee before answering.

“We were in the pub. You went to get some more drinks. That’s it. I can’t remember a thing after that.”

Tony decided this was the ideal time to break the news about him coming to London. He lied.

“Really? What about the conversation about you coming back to London with me today and meeting up with my boss, Emily?”

James looked confused.

“No, I don’t remember that at all.”

“Well you did old son. You got all excited about this Seal Of Solomon thing and were desperate to meet up with the lady that was in charge of it all. You said I should stay the night and you’d drive us back to London this morning. So I set up a meeting for you at a pub near her office at midday.”

James was horrified. Not because of the two hour drive ahead of him but the thought that they were going to another pub. He looked at his watch. It was ten past nine.

“I’d better have a shower and sort myself out then.”

“Good man. We need to leave at ten. I’ll give her a call and tell her we may be a few minutes late.”

James slowly got up from the table and left the kitchen. Tony called Emily.

“Okay, it’s on. We’ll meet at the pub about twelve thirty. Did you get the pictures I sent last night?”

“Yes. It’s the same man as in the other pictures. Be careful Tony. I’m still not sure what’s going on but people have been hurt because of this, so PLEASE be careful.”

“Careful is my middle name. See you soon toots.”

He sat back down at the table and pulled the other breakfast towards him. He hated seeing good food go to waste.

They left at ten fifteen. James had another three cups of coffee before he thought his hands had stopped shaking enough to hold the steering wheel.

The drive to London was slow, and quiet. No music, no talking. Just the sound of Fat Tony snoring his way through the first hour and a half of the journey. He woke just as they entered the outskirts of town. Thirty minutes later they were looking for a car parking space.

“There, just there. Stick the car in that spot.”

“I can’t do that Tony, it’s a disabled space.”

“Just do it. Trust me it’s fine.”

James manoeuvred the car into the space and turned off the engine.

“What now?”

Tony smiled. From out of his small leather folder he produced a blue disabled parking badge.

“It was me Dad’s. It’s still got eighteen months to run on it. I take it everywhere with me. Comes in real handy. Poor sod died without a penny to his name so left me nothing. But the badge more than makes up for it. Saved me a fortune so far.”

“But isn’t that illegal?”

“No, he would have wanted me to have it. He wouldn’t have minded.”

He set the time on the badge and placed it in the window of James car.

The pub was quiet, just a few regulars. Tony saw Emily sitting at their usual table. He and James walked over and sat down.

“Emily Watson, meet James Conroy. You two have a lot to talk about. I’ll go get us a nice couple of bottles of red.”

James stomach did a backflip!